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Jonathan Chapman - It's Your Time


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What I posted on Philip Rising's thread "NO WORD FROM THE BSPA" thread

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Speedway needs someone with a bit of cash, offer a breakaway series with an independent governing body, all with the FIM/ACU approval and the SCB/BSPA can do f-all about it.

The FIM/ACU must surely be able to see the the SCB/BSPA is one and the same and not fit for purpose and be disbanded. 

The ACU and FIM should really now get involved in the shambles that is British Speedway. 

A man with knowledge of the sport and is nowindependant of all clubs is Jonathan Chapman. 

Jonathan, the sport needs you and with a number of new promotions out there already not getting a vote at the BSPA would surely get your backing.

Glasgow, Belle Vue, Rye House, Redcar, Sheffield and Leicester have shrewd, forward thinking people behind them. If you, Jonathan Chapman really do have some ideas that can bring the sport and their businesses into the 21st Century and give the punters something to support, now's the time to undercut the SCB/BSPA before the time is to late for all of us

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What's his pedigree, track record? What's his CV like? What other accomplishments has he done inside or outside of Speedway? I ask this genuinely, not having a go at the bloke, what has he done that's been so great before? I remember he re-branded the big events as the Super Seven Series, I'm not aware of anything else though, does he even want to do it?

Edited by iainb
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independent of all tracks Jonathon chapman ??

don't make me laugh, :rofl:  a former promoter at Kings Lynn , father still owner !  how does that make him independent. ?

there is no such thing as anyone who is independent of all tracks in the uk.

 

 

 

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6 hours ago, yoda said:

independent of all tracks Jonathon chapman ??

don't make me laugh, :rofl:  a former promoter at Kings Lynn , father still owner !  how does that make him independent. ?

there is no such thing as anyone who is independent of all tracks in the uk.

 

 

 

 

Don't get on.Didn't you know ?

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4 minutes ago, screm said:

Whilst I`ve no doubt Jonathan Chapman is a great guy and top bloke, would he or anyone else for that matter take on the task of curing the problems speedway currently faces.

That's the question. Looks like a full time job. It does need someone with ideas and a passion for the sport, who ain't stuck in the past though. 

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3 minutes ago, Bald Bloke said:

That's the question. Looks like a full time job. It does need someone with ideas and a passion for the sport, who ain't stuck in the past though. 

Agree, but whoever takes on the job will probably get by vote from the BSPA and going by how long it takes to get things done it will be a few seasons yet before we see an independent individual ruling speedway. 

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46 minutes ago, Bald Bloke said:

Don't get on.Didn't you know ?

Estranged to all intents and purposes. No "candidate" is going to be perfect but Jonathan Chapman ( with the financial backing and full authority to make decisions that will be held to by all participating promotions ) is the ideal man in my opinion.

Edited by waytogo28
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If you are talking independent it needs to be a panel and with people like Tony Steele, Jan Staechmann, Andrew Silver etc that still love the sport and have seen better days and would love to see it rise from the flames. Add to those a few more and you have a body that can run alongside them to oversee things and when need be say NO to the BSPA about certain rules bought in clearly trying to benefit the few

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We are in danger of not seeing the wood for the trees here. How on earth would Tony Steele, Jan Staechmann and Andrew Silver (quoting Incognito) turn speedway around. The sport is in a massive hole now ... and only major surgery will, in my opinion, save it. It needs a fresh broom, not three old ones! And that's no disrespect to Steele, Staechmann and Silver. It's like Peter Oakes suggesting a PR guy in the SS this week ... surely we've been there done that with PR firms etc etc and nothing has stopped the decline. Again I mean no disrespect to Peter Oakes for the suggestion - at least he is putting ideas forward. There's plenty asking all the questions but so far I haven't seen one single person with any worthwhile answers. And don't tell me transparency from the BSPA would change things ... we all know the fundamental problems go much, much deeper than things like that. 

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There have been some good business people with proven sales and marketing skills in Speedway in the last decade but unfortunately were driven out by the win at all costs brigade. They win at all costs mentalitists were never into the long term just who or how hard they could shaft the opposition using everything except 4 laps on a Speedway bike to achieve it.

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19 hours ago, waytogo28 said:

Estranged to all intents and purposes. No "candidate" is going to be perfect but Jonathan Chapman ( with the financial backing and full authority to make decisions that will be held to by all participating promotions ) is the ideal man in my opinion.

But who is going to financially back speedway nowadays, regardless of how brilliant the supremo is?

Speedway has become completely undercapitalised so it's now very difficult to make the necessary improvements to the stadiums etc... Its supporter demographic is also not appealing to sponsors or even really television, so unless some very rich person comes along and bankroll it out of the goodness of their heart or as some sort of social experiment, it's going to be very difficult to find the money to turn speedway into a 21st century sport. 

I actually thought the article in the Spar was quite interesting (see, I'm not always critical Philippe), but marketing for the Olympics has to be a slam dunk compared with speedway. And as others have pointed out, until speedway promoters really grasp the mire the sport is in and come-up with a completely new approach to how its run (e.g. centrally contracted riders, possibly a common pool of bikes), and work out how to take it back to being a relatively cheap night out that's held at convenient times for the spectators, then I'm afraid it's going to end up nothing more than an amateur sport played out in a few remaining rural tracks in front of friends and family. 

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3 hours ago, brandonmole said:

We are in danger of not seeing the wood for the trees here. How on earth would Tony Steele, Jan Staechmann and Andrew Silver (quoting Incognito) turn speedway around. The sport is in a massive hole now ... and only major surgery will, in my opinion, save it. It needs a fresh broom, not three old ones! And that's no disrespect to Steele, Staechmann and Silver. It's like Peter Oakes suggesting a PR guy in the SS this week ... surely we've been there done that with PR firms etc etc and nothing has stopped the decline. Again I mean no disrespect to Peter Oakes for the suggestion - at least he is putting ideas forward. There's plenty asking all the questions but so far I haven't seen one single person with any worthwhile answers. And don't tell me transparency from the BSPA would change things ... we all know the fundamental problems go much, much deeper than things like that. 

Unfortunately with a PR company you have situations like last Monday. A live TV match on a major broadcaster, 2 evenly matched teams , the most successful team of recent years as the visitors,a modern purpose built track and stadium ,  beautiful weather and no clashes with the World Cup.  And what do we get , 2 hours of dross,a trapping contest with riders strung out like washing after 1 lap with little or no racing. A bore fest, now how could any PR company worth its salt do anything with that ?  Unfortunately that's where we are !

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4 hours ago, Humphrey Appleby said:

And as others have pointed out, until speedway promoters really grasp the mire the sport is in and come-up with a completely new approach to how its run (e.g. centrally contracted riders, possibly a common pool of bikes), and work out how to take it back to being a relatively cheap night out that's held at convenient times for the spectators, then I'm afraid it's going to end up nothing more than an amateur sport played out in a few remaining rural tracks in front of friends and family. 

 

I think a very high percentage of fans see it the same way and have no belief that the BSPA can grasp the state speedway has come to. It is going to end up something like you suggest. Sad but true. No more false "New Dawns " will achieve anything except extinction.

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16 hours ago, Byker Biker said:

There have been some good business people with proven sales and marketing skills in Speedway in the last decade but unfortunately were driven out by the win at all costs brigade. They win at all costs mentalitists were never into the long term just who or how hard they could shaft the opposition using everything except 4 laps on a Speedway bike to achieve it.

Spot on..

All to try and win a competition that by the very way it is ran (with teams sharing out lads week in week out and such sharp practice as you allude to),  delivers absolutely zero kudos to the victor...

I've got an idea...

Why dont you spend a fortune trying to desperately win something that by your very actions you end up destroying any achievement in winning?

(And then expect people in their thousands to pay you money to see you do it)...

Couldn't make it up could you?:D

 

 

Edited by mikebv
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56 minutes ago, iainb said:

... But what has Jonathan Chapman ever done for Speedway?

Conversely, what have the fans making suggestions on this thread ever done?

JC did a fair bit for Lynn whilst he was a promoter, the publicity, presentation etc have never been better in my 50+ years following the sport. He also brought about the Super Sevens which many fans thought a step forward. He probably did more but it's too hot to argue:D

I' m not saying he's the best person for the job, or even if he wants it, but to suggest he has done nothing is incorrect. I honestly don't think he has ever done anything to adversely affect the sport. 

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17 hours ago, New Science said:

how could any PR company worth its salt do anything with that ?

That's the value of a good PR team.  They understand how to accentuate the positive and minimise the negative.  It's what they do for a living.

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